EU Lawsuit Against UK Highlights Stringent Data Privacy Standards

The New York Times reports today that the European Union has commenced legal action against Britain for failing to properly apply EU data privacy rules that would restrict an Internet advertising tracker called "Phorm" from watching how users surf the Web. Phorm analyzes Internet users’ behavior so it can display ads that might appeal to them. EU officials are requiring that this kind of technology, tracking technology, should only be enabled if there is affirmative consent on the part of the user – meaning, that the user must be made explicitly aware that their surfing habits are being analyzed, and that it is o.k. for the search engines, or social networking sites, to advertise directly to them while surfing the Internet.

Internet companies, privacy advocates and regulators disagree on what kind of traffic data is personal — such as IP addresses that give a location — and whether storing information on a crowd of people might evade strict privacy rules because they cannot be identified individually. The first legal warning by the EU was sent to the UK, and Britain now has 2 months with which to reply.

This article highlights how new technological developments can be severely impacted, or limited, based on legislation that is enacted by a legislative body of law – in this case the European Union. The EU’s standards for data privacy is unmatched in anywhere around the globe. Advertising, like the Phorm tracker mentioned above, while quietly being implemented here in the U.S., is subjected to strict data privacy laws that are intended to provide the user with confidence that their surfing habits are not being monitored by an external third party. In some cases, data leakage that would otherwise be subjected to breach notification requirements here in the U.S., could subject certain companies to imprisonment in EU countries.

This essentially is the crux of the data online privacy debate going on in the world stage, and the playing lines have been drawn. On one side, there are those countries, like the U.S. and Britain, who have a much more relaxed approach to privacy on the Internet, and on the other side, there are countries, like those of the EU, who have a strict standard of application towards privacy and the Internet. Some may find it ironic that the country who prides itself on privacy protection for its citizens (that be the U.S.), actually has a lower standard of privacy than other countries around the world (those Socialists). I would suggest that this disparity highlights how Americans and Britains view the Internet, as compared to the rest of the world. We see the Internet as a means of commerce and way to make money, and Europeans see it more as a way to communicate, albeit ideas, opinions, information, etc. Nonetheless, this debate will continue, and businesses need to be aware of this disparity as it begins to engage in business around the globe. Failure to be aware of the regulatory differences could result in fines and prosecution (both criminal and civil).